Postal delivery
The French-speaking unions CGSP and CSC have submitted a strike notice to Bpost that will take effect from April 22. The unions want to increase the pressure on Bpost to change hands in the ongoing negotiations about the new newspaper distribution. The Flemish trade unions are not participating for the time being.
The current newspaper concession expires on June 30. “While the company maintains that it is doing everything it can to keep newspaper distribution at Bpost, we know that will not be the case,” the French-speaking Christian union CSC wrote on its website on Wednesday. “If an agreement is reached with the publishers, the only option being defended is the eventual transfer to subsidiary AMP, with consequences for all employees of the company. That is unacceptable!”
The newspaper distribution had already been disrupted on Saturday. There may be further actions during this week, according to CSC and CGSP.
From April 22, a larger strike is expected that could last a month “if there is no major change in the company’s vision in terms of reorganization and the way in which newspaper distribution is organised”, according to Stéphane Daussaint of CSC. It is not clear whether action will also be taken in Flanders.
In a response, Bpost states that it understands that “there is a period of vagueness and uncertainty that causes fear”. “But we are negotiating with publishers and trying to present offers that remain in line with our social model,” said spokeswoman Laura Cerrada Crespo.
“Giving negotiations every opportunity”
The Flemish trade unions are not participating in the actions (for the time being). “The impact (of a potential loss of the newspaper contract, ed.) is so great that I prefer a negotiated solution,” says Geert Cools of the ACOD. According to Cools, three quarters of all newspapers are in Flanders and there are also many more committed employees in Flanders. “Increasing the pressure on publishers not to choose us does not seem to me to be the right objective to pursue,” Cools concludes.
At ACV they acknowledge that the discussions are currently going smoothly, but they say that they want to “give the negotiations every opportunity”. “I can understand my colleagues in the sense that it is high time for negotiations to take place in a decent manner,” concludes Annick Boon of the ACV.
